U.S. Replaces Memo on Torture with New Guidelines

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By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department released a new memo on Friday to replace a controversial document outlining how to avoid violating U.S. and international terror statutes while interrogating prisoners.

In a Dec. 30 memorandum, released early on Friday, the department stepped back from an August 2002 memo that said only the most severe types of torture were not permissible under U.S. and international agreements against torture.

The new memo was more broad in its definition of what could be considered torture, and therefore what was unacceptable under U.S. law and under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

The new memorandum was released on a federal holiday, just one week before White House legal counsel Alberto Gonzales -- to whom the August 2002 memo was addressed -- was to appear before the Senate for confirmation hearings. Gonzales has been nominated by President Bush to be the new Attorney General.

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=V1LCIA0PHI154CRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=7212064

[ZenLefty]

1. Duplicate - here's a link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1111119

[emad]

2. Thanks, didn't see that one...